ST. Louis to Glacier National Park to San Francisco and back

[ZeeBabar]

Having received tremendous help before, I am now planning a long, solo road trip, one last challenge for a 77 year old man. I would like to leave St. Louis, travel through Omaha (2 nights to visit friend), see Glacier National Park and head towards San Francisco (3 days) and then back. Have already been to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons, so skipping those.

Mostly looking for scenic drive, some picture taking (too old to hike far or tough ones). Want to do Omaha to Glacier park on a mostly direct route. After that, from Glacier National Park to San Francisco area is where I am sort of confused. A part says to go to Seattle and drive down the coast.

In any case, please suggest a scenic route. I can take as much as 3 weeks with 2 days in Omaha, 4 in San Francisco.

Your suggestions are deeply appreciated.

[Southwest Dave]

Hi and welcome back!

This sounds like a great solo trip to enjoy, but you have many, many options before I could meaningfully give a particular route between Glacier and San Fran. The trip is likely to be around a total of 5,000 miles, or 10 days of full, but comfortable driving, add 6 more days in Omaha and San Fran and you are left with 5 days, if you take your maximum of 3 weeks for the trip. Suddenly it doesn't seem as much time free as perhaps we thought, especially if you spend a couple of days in Glacier NP! That would make heading to Seattle and the coast too rushed in my opinion. (Especially if you are planning any sightseeing stops between SF and home?) Perhaps a route that would include the Columbia river Gorge near Portland and a visit to Crater Lake would work, possibly cutting across to coast for the Redwoods. Burney Falls and Lassen Volcanic park could be options, as well as Lake Tahoe. These are just a few of many worth considering so it's worth looking at a decent map, or using one of the RTA mapping programs, and work a little on other attractions that draw your attention and then we can help with the routing.

Dave

[AZBuck]

I agree with everything Dave has said. You won't have a lot of time to spare, so you should make the most of it. For that I'm going to offer two suggestions. The first is to make ample use of the opportunities to take short relaxing breaks along the way. Then, mindful that most of your trip is going to be along Interstates where the Plains are at their widest, make use of your chance to see as much of the Pacific coast that you've driven all that way to get to. For the latter, the obvious choice is US-101. The question is how and where to join up with it. Personally, I would use US-2 to Spokane, I-90 to Ritzville, US-395 to Pasco, I-182/I-82, I-84 to Portland (which would go through Columbia River Gorge), and finally OR-99W and OR-18 to join US-101 near Lincoln City OR. Farther south, you'll have the opportunity to either continue on US-101 or again stick to the coast on CA-1. You can make the decision on which route to take once you're there and know if you're pressed for time or want to see more coastline.

AZBuck

[ZeeBabar]

Thank you both! The question I am facing, considering I am leaving on June 3rd or 4th is whether I should head to San Francisco first or head towards Glacier National Park. The reason for the question is because I do want to drive the Sun road and am told it might not be open before June 15th so perhaps heading to San Francisco and then working my way up might be a better option.

However, having been to Colorado and Utah multiple times, finding an interesting route to San San Francisco without lengthening the trip might be challenging.

[DonnaR57]

If you can leave your plans fluid, then keep an eye on the NPS Glacier website for updates on GTTSR clearing and opening date. If you can't be fluid, then you might opt for trying it on the way back from SF. Here is the history of opening dates.

You have to have a ticket to drive the road. It's probably a really good idea. When we were there in 2016, we drove it across east-->west and were only able to get into a few viewpoints, and one of them was not Logan Pass VC. We got to Apgar Village, waited an hour or two, then started back going west-->east (instead of returning via US-2). By this time, we could get into most viewpoints including LPVC, but were only able to do one of the short trails we wanted to do.


Donna